Nancy emailed me this recipe at the beginning of this week, and since I had everything in the house, I plopped it in the crockpot yesterday.

This is a fun roast! The coffee really tenderizes the meat, and it becomes fork-tender than other roast recipes. I tweaked her original recipe according to what we had in the pantry, and was pleased with the results.

Adam and I ate ours with a spinach salad and the girls dipped their "steak" in barbecue sauce.

I opted to not brown the meat and onions, and instead plopped everything in to the crockpot. I put the vegetables on the bottom, and then the meat.

Add the coffee, Worcestershire sauce, red wine vinegar, and spices.

Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours, or on high for 4-5. I cooked our meat on low for exactly 8 hours, and then it was on warm for another 3.

Carefully remove the meat from the pot, and stir in the cream cheese. I'd cut the cream cheese in slices and add it one at a time, if you can, to help it from separating in little white dots the way mine did. I got impatient. If you do get a bunch of little white dots, they will taste fine, but annoy you.

The Verdict.

Yummy! If I didn't know coffee was in there, I wouldn't have guessed that's what the hint of flavor was. I liked how the gravy was dark brown, and rich. Adding the cream cheese thickened it up nicely, and gave it a creamy texture.

33 comments:

YaH! Oh Yeah! Oh Yeah!! I decided to make a pot roast this morning, and low and behold, you posted this! I had everything on hand, and even the coffee with exactly 1 cup left. It is still in the crockpot, but knowing that you liked it, I KNOW it will turn out good. Great timing! thank you so much!!

YES! Someone else who doesn't brown the meat. I usually skip that step too. I am far from a knowledgeable cook so have always wondered if that's "bad", that I don't brown it first. I'm so happy to hear that you skip it sometimes too. :) Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated. What does that really do anyways?

Jamie, the meat looks better if it is browned. That's all I can think of. "They" say it tastes better, but I haven't had that experience at all. I hate washing pans or extra steps, so unless it;s something special and I want grill marks or browned skin (like on chicken) I skip that step.

Also! I think that browning the meat toughens the skin and sometimes the sauce flavors just can't penetrate through and I don't like that. I like my meat to be saucy. ;-)

If you REALLY want to tweak the recipe, I heard many years ago that coffee will tenderize/flavorize bear meat.Let me know if you try it, and I'll let you know if I try it!(You notice I heard this tip years ago, and haven't had an opportunity to try it yet! ;)

Sounds good, but I have a question. If I don't like mushrooms – and I don't; it's the texture, not the taste – can I just leave them out or will that affect the liquid/solid ratio? Do I need to substitute something else instead, and if so, what?

So I have a question. I tried this tonight, and while it was very good - it tasted pretty much the same as EVERY other roast I have ever made in the crock pot. They just all have that same basic taste. Am I doing something wrong or is that just how all crock pot roasts are? (I followed the recipe to a T, just fyi. OH except for the cream cheese part - to avoid the whole chunky white bits thing, I warmed the cheese in the microwave and then I scooped some of the liquid from the crock into the cheese and whisked it together before pouring it back into the crock).

hmm. okay. You've got the coffee, and onion, and worcestershire sauce----those are the main flavor ingredients. If you've always made pot roast with a packet of onion soup mix, this will taste quite similar. Try the pomegranate beef or the red wine and cranberries glazed pot roast---they have a much different flavor than the "traditional" pot roast would.

this is just so yummy! there is no coffee flavor. It is just GOOD! The only thing that I added was some baby carrots. I served it over some mashed potatoes and corn bread. The family LOVED this! Will make again soon, very soon!

Got this in the pot now - but using a tri-tip as it's what I had. I also would have bet money I had red wine vinegar, but apparently not, so plain white is what I used. Smells good and I expect it to taste yummy, too. :)

LOVE this recipe! I've made it twice after seeing it in the book and YUM. Both times I forgot to get mushrooms at the store and, consequently, did not have them with the roast -- still delicious. I just have my husband brew an extra cup of coffee in the morning, pop everything in the slow cooker, and come home to a fantastic dinner (and lunch for the next day). We are in Phase One of South Beach and made this with Neufchâtel cheese -- still delicious. Have I mentioned that I love this recipe? YUM.

How do maintain keeping things low in fat when you cook meat in a crockpot and serve it right away? I use a crockpot often for vegetarian dishes. There is so much fat in there that I have to put the pot in the refigerator overnight so that I can skim off all the fat! (like for a rich and hearty chicken soup) - just curious about what you do....